Emmanuel Macron

Emmanuel Macron (21 December 1977-) was Minister of the Economy, Industry, and Digital Affairs of France from 26 August 2014 to 30 August 2016, succeeding Arnaud Montebourg and preceding Michel Sapin. Macron was once a Rothschild investment banker, and he later left the Socialist Party of France to become an independent politician, forming the En Marche! movement in 2016 and running for president with the party's support in 2017.

Biography
Emmanuel Macron was born in Amiens, France on 21 December 1977, and he gained a master's degree in public affairs at Sciences Po before graduating from the École nationale d'administration in 2004 to become a civil servant. From 2004 to 2008, he served as Inspector of Finances in the Ministry of Economy, serving in that position as a member of the Socialist Party of France. In 2008, he left to work as an investment banker at Rothschild & Cie Banque, and he became an independent in 2009. In 2014, Prime Minister Manuel Valls appointed Macron as Minister of the Economy, Industry, and Digital Affairs, and he resigned from the government on 30 August 2016 to prepare for the presidential election that upcoming year. Macron founded the centrist En Marche! party, which advocated progressivism and centrism in a fashion similar to Hillary Clinton during the 2016 United States presidential election. Macron was liked by many people for his moderate views, as he had belonged to the right-wing faction of the Socialist Party, and had worked as a banker; however, his opponents pointed out that he had never run for public office before, and that he was married to his former drama teacher, who was 24 years his senior. On 23 April 2017, Macron won 24.01% of the popular vote in the first round of the French presidential election, qualifying him to run against National Front candidate Marine Le Pen in the final round in May.